


Temple History

by sanerontheinside



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Anakin has a rough start at the Temple, Bullying, But then Obi-Wan's Initiate years were kinda hell too, Gen, Master & Padawan Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-28
Updated: 2017-02-28
Packaged: 2018-09-27 10:25:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10010465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanerontheinside/pseuds/sanerontheinside
Summary: Prompted by jediknighterrant on tumblr:“It’s nothing,” Anakin insisted.“Nothing? Really?”Her hand snaked out to grasp his chin, roughly tilting his face up to the light. The bruise he’d tried to conceal was livid, shaping thin fingers in a brutal slap.“Excuse me, I have some stupid in my ears. Care to repeat that lie?”





	

There was no way his Master wouldn’t see that bruise, and so now Anakin was hiding. Everyone knew about the lower levels of the Temple, of course—although some preferred to hide in the towers—but they also knew that if you didn’t want to be found, the Force could be confusing here. Lissi knew this place because she had shown it to him. 

Anakin’s face—his _ears—_ burned with shame. He was broadcasting it into the Force, unable to control it or let go. He turned away, wanting to hide. Maybe he thought she’d leave him alone, if he didn’t say anything. After a moment, Lissi sighed and sat down next to him. 

“You have to tell your Master, Anakin. You can’t just let this go on.” 

Easy for her to say. Lissi was never picked on. Anakin didn’t understand it, exactly, though he knew what made him a target. He was an outsider from the Outer Rim, he didn’t sound like any of the children. He was rough and coarse and didn’t know if what he said was rude or somehow bad; he was too good at some things and not good enough at others. At least when he’d gotten into scraps on Tatooine, they’d been scraps among equals. 

Lissi, though, was slight and pretty. Anakin hated that he knew—knew she would have fetched a high price, with her purple skin and the dusting of freckles on her nose. She would have been claimed for Jabba before the bidding even began. The thought made him sick to his stomach—kind, sharp-tongued, fiery Lissi in Jabba’s palace. 

“Ani,” Lissi said softly, “he already knows.”

That only made him curl tighter in shame, and a faint whimper wrenched itself free of his control. 

She sighed, reaching out to rub his back gently. Lissi had seen Master Kenobi on the upper levels, she knew what Anakin didn’t—that Master Obi-Wan hadn’t been the least bit fooled by Kos’s story. That Master Obi-Wan looked haggard and worried, and that he was giving the instructor the mother of all headaches just for taking the side of ‘it doesn’t matter who started it’. Lissi hadn’t understood everything, and didn’t wait around for very long before she went off to find Ani, but some of the things Master Kenobi had said were downright frightening. Something about the situation having only gotten worse since _he’d_ been an Initiate. 

That was not a pleasant thought. Hadn’t she heard that some of Master Obi-Wan’s yearmates had _died?_

Lissi resolved not to think about that, though. Probably just silly rumours. 

“Why don’t you go to him?” she asked, trying not to sound like she was pushing, only curious. 

Anakin shook his head, face hidden away against his knees. “He wouldn’t…” 

 _Wouldn’t understand,_ Anakin wanted to say. Master Obi-Wan would tell him it’s not the Jedi way, would sigh and assign meditations to release his anger. But how was he suppose to release it when he couldn’t stop _thinking—_

“There you are,” a soft voice interrupted his thoughts, kind and surprisingly gentle. “Initiate Saiyu, thank you for keeping Anakin company. If you don’t mind, I’d like to have a few words with my Padawan?” 

Anakin sniffed involuntarily, and Lissi hesitated. 

“You’re not in trouble, Ani,” Obi-Wan said, still gentle. Lissi looked between them, then reached for Anakin’s hand, hoping he’d giver her a sign. Master or no, she didn’t want to abandon him. 

Thankfully Anakin gave her hand a tight squeeze and nodded, which Lissi took as a go-ahead signal. She withdrew slowly, having the grace to be a little abashed at perhaps implying distrust of a Master, but Master Kenobi didn’t seem offended. He gave her a half-smile, and bowed with appreciation. Lissi flushed a little and scampered off. 

Obi-Wan stared at his Padawan’s huddled, shrinking form for a long moment before he sighed and settled himself beside the boy. He rested his fingertips lightly, cautiously, on Anakin’s shoulder, gratified when he leaned into the touch. 

“I never told you about my time in the créche,” Obi-Wan said after a moment, musing and a little regretful. “Perhaps I should have. It might have prepared you for some of the things you’ve already seen, though I doubt it would have made it any easier.” 

The sniffles quieted a little, and Anakin shifted closer to his Master. Obi-Wan sighed and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, guiding his Padawan to lean against him. 

“I once got into a fight with a crèchemate of mine,” Obi-Wan said Anakin stilled against him, which brought a faint smile to his lips. _Oh, Anakin,_ he thought, and went on: “Provoking me was a favourite game of his, and I’m sorry to say I fell for it far more often than I should have. He goaded me into a match, at the end of which we were both rather bruised and rough-looking. Rather than take myself to the Healers and be forced to answer questions and tell them who had done this to me, I went back to my quarters and patched myself up as best as I could.”

Anakin stiffened, finally looking up at his Master, bruised cheek for the moment forgotten. Obi-Wan smiled a little at the sight of those large blue eyes, red-rimmed, wide with shock. He reached with his other hand and brushed a stray tear from Anakin’s cheek. The warmth of the Force danced over the bruise, healing and erasing any sign of the handprint. 

“I didn’t want any more trouble from him,” he explained softly, “and if I went to someone, if they tried to have him censured—well, that would be inviting trouble.” His expression turned solemn. “That didn’t work.” 

Anakin blinked. “What happened?”

“He went to the Healers himself, and told them I had cornered him.” 

Obi-Wan watched Anakin’s eyes widen, and then his Padawan sputtered in a flash of anger. “But—but—”

“Shh,” Obi-Wan forestalled any further words, lightly resting a fingertip on Anakin’s nose. “The point here, Anakin, is that you cannot let someone else tell your story for you. You cannot turn around and hide in the lower levels, letting them speak for you. Yes, alright, perhaps you were goaded, and your control failed. Perhaps you attacked in anger. It happens, sometimes. Sometimes those fights are not worth having. In time, you’ll learn to choose those battles more carefully, to have better control—I hardly expect that of you when I could not do the same myself. But it is equally true that sometimes your opponent will not quite adhere to the Jedi way, either.” 

Anakin bit his lip and looked away, processing that. “What do I do then?”

Obi-Wan sighed again and stretched his legs out in front of him. “Padawan, all I ask is that next time Initiate Kos gives you any trouble, you come to me. He has already been assigned a different schedule, but that will not prevent him from seeking you out, should he wish to.” He squeezed a narrow shoulder. “We’ll be assigned missions soon, Padawan mine, as soon as you finish this round of exams. But a lot can happen between now and then. Please, if anything should make you feel like you are not safe, tell me. Use the bond.”

 _I will always answer._  

Anakin looked up, rather like he hadn’t expected to hear Obi-Wan’s voice in his mind at all. He smiled, though it looked pretty ghastly on his tear-stained face. A fond huff escaped Obi-Wan as he wrapped his arms tightly around his Padawan. “Come on, off to bed with you,” he murmured, rising and picking the boy up off his feet. 

For a moment Anakin wanted to protest that he could still walk, but Obi-Wan forestalled him with a shake of his head. “No, Ani. I can feel how tired you are. I think maybe you don’t realise how deep into the lower levels you went,” he added, and started walking. 

Perhaps that was true. Anakin fell asleep almost immediately, head resting against his Master’s collarbone, his ear pressed over the soothing sound of his heartbeat. He awoke only briefly as he was gently tucked into his bed in the Padawan room, and then he was asleep again before he could say anything about the nightmares or the cold. But the next morning he found himself wrapped in not only a blanket, but also his Master’s cloak. He didn’t remember any of his dreams, and his Master, fully dressed, lay curled up on the floor by his bed. 


End file.
